Halloween Food Play for Picky Eaters

As a feeding therapist, I encourage
parents to allow kids to play with food in order to learn about different foods
(and eventually eat it!). However, parents are usually reluctant to incorporate
food-based sensory play until I explain what it is and what it does. Learn more
about this technique and try out some of my Halloween food play ideas
for picky eaters!

What
is food-based sensory play? Food-based sensory play is when you
use food (different textures, temperatures, smells, etc.) during play to
improve a child’s fine motor, gross motor, cognitive, speech, language, play
and sensory development. This type of play
can really encourage children who are hesitant about foods to expand their food
repertoire!

Benefits of Food-based Sensory Play: Once
parents see the benefits of me using small amounts of food for sensory play they
are more comfortable with doing it at home. In my experience, when children are
allowed to have fun exploring the scents, textures, sounds, and visual aspects
of food, they quickly become willing to explore the taste of it too! I have had
many children classified as ‘picky
eaters’
eat a variety of fruits, vegetables and protein
during food sensory play!

Halloween Food-based Sensory Play:
Most of my feeding success stories start by going from an unhealthy food to a
healthy one with the help of sensory play. This technique can be super fun
during the holidays, especially Halloween.
Starting with Halloween candy, like a Strawberry Starburst for example, can get
me to a strawberry candy roll up, then to a fruit roll up, then to an organic
fruit leather and finally to a strawberry! All by playing and exploring new
foods. Here are some Halloween food play ideas to help the picky eaters in your
life.

- Magic
Potions: Several of my clients are into all things Harry Potter. With this
theme in mind, I made ‘potions’ (different smoothies, green juices and protein drinks)
for them to try. You can quickly take your picky
drinker to the next level when you both take sips of Poly-Juice, Unicorn
Blood, Skele-Grow or Gillyweed! It’s amazing how many of my picky kiddos are
willing to drink several ounces in order to play.

- Marshmallow
Fluff: I love introducing marshmallow fluff in feeding therapy,
especially during Halloween. Place a yummy glob of the fluff on the mat and have
your kids use their fingers to mold the marshmallow cream into a ghost, mummy
or monster. Add some creepy candy eyes and you have a BOOtiful food-based
craft!

- Separating
Candy: Practicing a planned activity in advance helps children prepare
their emotions and encourages problem solving before a special event. This
technique is called pre-teaching. I encourage parents to pre-teach how to
separate candy BEFORE Halloween night, which will help prevent meltdowns during
this fun holiday!

Practicing how to separate candy is a great sensory activity and an excellent time
to learn new skills. You can teach them about the rules of throwing away candy
that look suspicious or unsafe. You can separate candy based on color, personal
favorites or even separate a few choices that they want in their lunchbox
for school. I find that having the kids choose a few pieces of candy that give
them good sensory input (like chewing gum and lollipops) can really help them
succeed when doing homework. Pre-teaching
this skill when your children are rested and not coming down from the
excitement of trick-or-treating will help them be more cooperative and calm
when the candy disappears or Switch Witch comes along!

- Marshmallows:
Kids love decorating marshmallows! All you need for this sensory play activity
are some food-safe markers, candy eyes and the Play Mat to keep
the sticky mess in one place. With a little imagination, this edible and spooky
sensory activity is sure to be a hit!

- Graveyard
Cake: Having a theme during sensory food play will always make it more
successful. For my graveyard theme, I use the Go! Cake microwave cake mix (chocolate madness flavor), which is
super easy and so tasty. To make it, just pour the Go! Cake mix it into the Happy Bowl, bake it for one minute
and it’s done! Throw in some fun zombie parts, add a cookie (write R.I.P. on it
with food-safe markers) and you have a perfect food play treat! Dare I say…it’s
gravely delicious.

What food play activities do you have planned for this holiday?
We hope you try some of our Halloween food play ideas for picky eaters! Let us
know how it goes and tag us with #ezpzfun #myezpzmat #halloween.

Photo Credit: Paul Joyner Photo

Save and Share:

Dawn Winkelmann, M.S, CCC-SLP

Speech Language Pathologist & Feeding Specialist for ezpz

Dawn Winkelmann, a.k.a “Ms. Dawn”, has treated thousands of kids across the globe by helping families overcome picky eating stages and food refusals, while adding new foods into their diet. Her high success rate is attributed to Ms. Dawn bringing her education, experience, sense of humor and her favorite feeding products to the family dinner table.

You will find Ms. Dawn’s expert feeding advice to be positive and fun for the entire family! She adapts complicated feeding/swallowing research and makes it practical and easy for parents! Get ready to learn the science behind your favorite feeding products and ways to bring happy family mealtimes back!